According to Wikipedia, he ran for Congress in 2010 on a promise to get rid of federal income taxes and had become involved with several Tea Party organizations.
So basically he went from being a corrupt, protectionist Democratic HP to being a regressive de facto Republican HP.
He supported abolishing the IRS and getting rid of the income tax for years while he was still in Congress. As far as I see he hadn't really changed much on policy but he found comfort in the Tea Party once he was released from prison.
He was always a conservative Democrat.
Yeah, Traficant always seemed to me to be one of those guys who were registered Democrat because that is what all the dagoes on his side of the bridge registered as more than actual ideology.
